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I was recently reading One Piece (specifically chapter 754), and I noticed that Zoro used the attack "1080 Pound Phoenix."

Final page of chapter 754

After I read through this chapter, I was rewatching the anime with my sisters (episode 66 in this instance), and we were in the Baroque Works arc and I noticed that Miss Valentine declared her attacks as "10,000 Kilogram Press."

Probably a direct clip from the anime, but I don't know for sure.

I'm pretty sure that Japan does not use the imperial form of measurement, so was the translation of "1080 Pound Phoenix" incorrect?

Ero Sɘnnin
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Cyberson
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    It's not a mistranslation; the original uses the furigana ポンド (*pondo*, "pound"). [Ref](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Santoryu#Before_Timeskip) – Cattua Jul 17 '15 at 21:38
  • @キルア Is it just an artistic choice then? To have the differentiation between *"Pound Phoenix"* and *"Kilogram Press"* that is. – Cyberson Jul 17 '15 at 21:42
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    Since the *Pound Phoenix* title is a pun on a couple things (as noted in the reference I gave), I would **guess** that it is an artistic choice, yes. Since it is not only a pun but also a reference to a type of gun (the force of which is measured by pound), it makes sense for them to not alter it. However, it seems that *Kilogram Press* is just a standard term that follows Japanese conventions. – Cattua Jul 17 '15 at 21:45
  • @キルア I saw that article but I didn't notice the part about the naming. Thank you very much for pointing it out to me. – Cyberson Jul 17 '15 at 21:48

1 Answers1

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As was pointed out to me by キルア, the reason Zoro uses "pound" in "1080 Pound Phoenix" is purely an artistic choice. The original Japanese uses the furigana ポンド (pondo, "pound") reference.

Also, as the wiki points out, the choice to use pound incorporates a sort of pun.

The attack's name is actually a very heavy pun — it is written out as "Phoenix of the 108 Earthly Desires" in the manga with a skewed reading attached that makes it "108 Pound Hō" when read out. Ho means both "cannon" (砲 Hō?) and "phoenix" (鳳 Hō?), however the attached kanji is for "phoenix", making that the literal translation and the "cannon" reading a pun on that, both of which are correct. The "pound" part is a skewed reading of the kanji for "earthly desires" (煩悩 Bonnō?), and it is referring to the caliber of a cannon (a 108 Caliber Cannon would fire a 108 Pound Ball).

Thank you again to キルア for pointing this out to me.

Cyberson
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